Left-Wing Populism in Germany

Thomas Frank has a provocative discussion going on over at TPM Cafe about the need for a progressive populism on the left to counteract the right-wing populism Frank describes so well hin his book What's the Matter with Kansas?

It is interesting that just such a left-wing populist movement has emerged out of nowhere in Germany and is creating havoc for the mainstream parties ahead of the September 18 early election. The press had all but anointed the conservative Christian Democrats as the winners when the east German PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism - successor to the former communist SED) joined forces with disgruntled union activists in western Germany to create a new Linkspartei (Left Party).  This party is now polling 12% of the electorate, making it overnight the third largest political force in Germany.

More after the jump.

Why the sudden success? The traditional base of the Social Democrats (SPD) sees their party as promoting "reforms" that erode the rights and benefits of German workers to the benefit of corporations (in the name of "global competitiveness"). Now with a charismatic front candidate (Oskar Lafontaine, who defected from the SPD), the Left Party could be in a position to influence the make-up of the new government in Belin after the election. Not much in the US media about this, but here is a surprisingly balanced article from the CNN Web site.